Adjustable connecting device for wrist watch bracelets



ADJUSTABLE CONNECTING DEVICE FOR WRIST WATCH BRACELETS Filed Sept. 16, 1957 W. C. BOOTS Sept. 27, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 R O T N W ADJUSTABLE CONNECTING DEVICE FOR WRIST WATCH BRACELETS Filed Sept. 16. 1957 W. C. BOOTS Sept. 27, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 m m m m Fig. 9

United States PatentO William C. Boots, Rumford;"'RII. ;-.assignor to Foster 1 Metal Products llicorporatedfiAttlehoro, Mass, a corporation'of Massachusetts Filed sept. 1651957,.SerJ1Nn. 684,333 6'' Claims. (01. zit-26s) This invention comprises :a new anduimproved connecting device for use between a watch frame and its wrist band or bracelet.

Watch cases are generally manufactured with .projecting attaching lugs differently spaced in difierent sizes and styles of case and carrying between them .a pin which is the connecting element of the watch case, and it .is contained within an encircling element ofthe wrist band. Heretofore it has been necessary to stock an assortment of wrist bands having connecting devices of various widths or to carry out individual fitting operations in order to insure accurate and reliable connection with the pin and lugs of the case. I

The principal object of the present invention is to obviate this necessity by providing a novel connecting device that may constitute a permanent part of each wrist band and that has the capacity for adjustment to make the same'perfect fit with the attaching lugs of all the ditferent spacings over the full range ordinarily encountered. Consideration has been given to effecting this result without in any way impairing the ornamental appearance of the connection and, on the contrary, to improve the ornamental effect of the wrist band. Going more into detail, the connecting device corn-- prises a base plate which may be formed as-ione of the links or attached to one of the links of a wrist band and which has a pair of flat carrier plates having aligned oppositely disposed barrelsfor containing -tlie pin element of the =Watchcase, together with means for independently retaining said carrier members on the base plate in different positions of widthvvise adjustment. Thus the carriermembersmay be adjusted to bring the outer ends of thebarrels' intodirect contact with the inner faces of the-attaching lugs and held in such adjusted position regardless of the span of the lugs. The base plate and the two fla't carrier plates are superposed and present substantial areas of flat sliding contact' thus imparting a desirable degree of stability and stillness .to the connecting device as a whole.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view on an enlarged scale of portions of a watch case and wrist band,

Fig. 2 shows the same parts in inverted position,

Fig. 3 is a view in perspective showing the parts of the connecting device in exploded relation,

Fig. 4 is a view in perspective showing a sub-assembly of certain of the parts shown in Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 is a view in perspective of a connecting pin with parts broken away,

Figs. 6 and 7 are views in perspective of two modified forms of the connecting device,

Fig. 8 is a view in perspective of the locking plate shown in Fig. 7, and

1 space between the lugs 11 Fig. 9 is a view in cross-section on the line 9-9 of Fig. 7.

In the accompanying drawings the watch case 10 is shown as provided with attaching lugs 11 and 12 spaced widelyfapart and provided with bores to receive the reduced Iends 13of a tubular connecting pin 14. Thereduced ends 13 extend outwardlyfrom plungers which are received within ithevbarrellof the pin andcontinuou'sly pressed outwardly by .a compression spring-15 which is insentedbetween them. In making these -.pins the ends ofLthe barrel are spun inwardly after the spring and plungers .havebeen assembled-therein. Each of the .re duced-lends is shoulderedandthese shoulders are maintained at all times .incontact with the inner faces of the lugs 11 and 12. The pin as-a hole may be detached by retracting .onecf the reduced ends sufficiently to disengage the lug in which it is inserted.

The adjustable-connecting device of the present invention is designed-as a component of the expansible band or bracelet to engage and enclose the pin 14 and fill'the .and 12 of the watch case. The watch band itself is of conventional construction includingtop links 16,;which are enclosed in more or less ornament-al shells 16 .and pivotally connected vto bottom links '17 which .hold them normally in contracted position. The pivots and springs are not shown in Figs. 1 and 2 but may be of conventional construction.

The connecting device includes a flat base plate 18 approximating in shapeone-of the bottom links 17 ofthe wrist band and having-a transversely projecting arm 19 t which is pivotally connected to one of the bottom links.

It is also pivotally connected to one of the top links 16. Associated with the base plate 18 are right and left carrier members 20 and 21 having superposed fflat ,plate portions. The plate portions of the carrier member 20 is formed integral with a longitudinally disposed barrel 22 which projects slightly beyond its upper end as shown in Fig. 3, while the carrier member .21 has a corresponding barrel 23' projecting beyond its lower end. The barrel 22 is provided in the inner end of its arcuate surface with a series of circumferential corrugations 24 and the barrel 23 with the corresponding series of corruga-T tions 25. Each of the carrier members is provided with a pair of :spaced longitudinally aligned slots through which pass rivets 26 and 27 that project through holes spaced in the base plate 18 and maintain the barrels spaced longitudinally from each other. Between these rivets the base plate is prov'idedwith 'a-shallow depression 28 and into this projects an ear 29 from the barrel 22 and an car 30 from the barrel 25. It will be'under slide *transve'rsely gin their rivets 26 and 27 and may be so moved by engaging the ears 29 or 30 with a pointed instrument which finds clearance in the recess 28.

The parts heretofore described assembled relation in Fig. 4 and the connecting device is completed when enclosed in a shell 31 which, as shown in Fig. 3, has a hooked tubular portion 32 pro vided with internally projecting ribs 33 which are designed to fit into the corrugations 24 and 25 in the barrels 22 and 23 desired position of transverse adjustment with ratchet action. The shell 31 is generally of and provided with flexible tongues 34 which are folded beneath the base plate 18 in the completely assembled device so that the connecting device as a whole closely resembles the other links of the bracelet. tubular portion 32 covers 22 and 23 and the space between them.

The barrels 22 and 23 are of a diameter are shown in their thus holding them yieldingly in any box shaped contour The hooked the inner ends of the barrels j to receive the When the parts have been assembled as shown in Figs.

l and 2, the barrels may be forcibly spread outwardly on the pin 14 until their outer ends. make a fit with the inner facesof the lugs 11 and 12. Lost motion in the connection is thus obviated and a secure and mechanically correct connection is effected.

A connection of modified structure is shown in Fig. 6 wherein the barrels 42 and 43 are formed as a part of carrier members similar to the members 20 and 21 adjustably mounted on the enclosed face of the base plate 18. The barrel 42 is provided with a corrugated ear 44 which extends outwardly over the base plate 18. The barrel 43 is provided with a corresponding corrugated car 45. The hooked tubular portion 46, which 'is a part of the shell 31, is provided with a serrated edge 47 arranged to engage yieldingly with the serrated arms 44 and 45 and to hold the lattersecurely in any positions of transverse adjustment necessary to bring the barrels 42 and 43 into fitting engagement with the lugs 11 and 12.

In the modification of Fig. 7 barrels 52 and 53 are each provided with a serrated section in its edge. These serrated sections are arranged for yielding engagement with a pair of upstanding detents 54 projecting from rectangular ears formed in a thin plate 55 which is mounted beneath the base plate 18 and forms in effect a section thereof as shown in Fig. 7. In this construction the hooked portion 56 of the clamp merely engages the barrels telescopically but does not determine their position of widthwise adjustment.

The corrugations 24 and the ribs 33 of Figs. 1 to 4, the serrated edge 47 and the corrugated or toothed cars 44 and 45 of Fig. 6, and the serrated edge section and detents 54 of Figs. 7 to 9 all comprise cooperative elements operating with ratchet action to hold the Carrier members in dilferent adjusted spacings.

Having thus disclosed my invention and described in detail preferred embodiments thereof, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. An adjustable connecting device for use, in combination with a spring pin between a watch case and a wrist band, comprising a fiat base plate having spaced holes for the reception of rivets, two slidable carrier plates, each formed with two elongated and spaced slots for cooperation with rivets anchored in the holes of the base plate, said slidable plates being superposed and having on their outer ends hollow barrels of diameter to receive said spring pin, said barrels being provided on part of their outer circumference with a series of transverse grooves, and a clamping member having spaced detents arranged to engage the grooves of the barrels.

2. An adjustable connecting device, for use in combination with a connecting spring pin, between a watch case and a wrist band; said adjustable connecting device comprising a flat base plate having projecting rivets, two slidable carrier plate, each formed with elongated and spaced slots for receiving rivets anchored in the base plate, said slidable plates being superposed and each having on its outer end hollow barrels of diameter to receive said spring pin, said barrels being spaced longitudinally and each provided with a corrugated edge, and a shell member with serrations arranged selectively to engage the corrugations in said slidable carrier plates.

3. An adjustable connecting device, for use in combination with a spring pin, between a watch case and a wrist band; said connecting device comprising a fiat base plate having projecting rivets, a flat spring member secured to the base plate by said rivets and provided with detents, two flat slidable carrier plates superposed one on the other and each merging at one edge into a hollow barrel of diameter to receive said spring pin and being serrated to engage the detents in the flat spring member.

4. An adjustable connecting device for use with wrist watches, comprising right and left carrier members merging at one end into open end barrels and having fiat plate portons arranged in overlapping sliding relation with their barrels separated longitudinally from each other, a base plate to which the carrier members are movably connected, and cooperating ratchet elements on the barrels of both the carrier members and on the base plate for holding the said members yieldingly in different spaced relation.

5. An adjustable connecting device for a Wrist watch bracelet, comprising a pair of flat superposed carrier plates each merging at one edge into a barrel and having a slot extending parallel to the axis of its barrel, a fiat base plate underlying and supporting said carrier plates, rivets projecting from the base plate through the slots of both the carrier plates for maintaining the said barrels in alignment for adjusting movement, a shell mem her having a tubular portion partially enclosing said barrels and cooperating elements on the barrels and shell member operating with ratchet action to hold the barrels and their carrier plates in difierent adjusted spacll'lgS.

6. An adjustable connecting device as described in claim 5, further characterized in that the base plate is provided with a depression in its exposed face and the barrels are provided with ears that project into the said depression.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,725,786 Eklund Aug. 27, 1929 2,007,538 Kraemer July 9, 1935 2,652,612 Valcourt Sept. 22, 1953 2,653,369 Rodriguez Sept. 29, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 451,445 Italy Sept. 14, 1949 1,121,475 France Apr. 30, 1956 

